July 27, 2017
YARP Hello From Elise!
“Let’s play Կլաս (pronounced klass)!” I yelled. Everyone came rushing toward me, their faces lit up in excitement. We stacked our hands on top of each other to decide the order. This is called a Ցելա (Pronounced tsela). How tselas work is very simple. It’s very similar to a coin flip, only you flip your hand, with many other people. If everyone flipped their hand and their palm was up, all except for one person, that one person is out, or first place. The same thing would work if everyone’s palm was facing down, except for one person.
Back to the game. My cousin Սուրեն (Suren) was first place, I was second, my distant cousin Էմիլիա (Emily) was third, Isabelle was fourth, my other distant cousin Դավիդ (David) was fifth, and my other cousin Արփի (Arpi) was the last.
We quickly ran inside to get some chalk. I opened a drawer and powdery chalk fell out. I gingerly picked it up and ran back outside. Suren had already started drawing with some other chalk he found, and he already had the one square finished. Soon the two and three squares started taking shape, along with fourth and fifth, followed by sixth, seventh, and eighth. Lastly, we drew the ninth and “the home base,” wiping chalk dust off our hands. “Everyone! Find some rocks!’ I yelled happily. We all scattered, searching to find the best rocks. In Armenia, when playing this game, you throw a rock to the first square, do the hopscotch routine, and if any of your feet didn’t touch the lines of the boxes, you can throw to the second square. If your rock doesn’t fall in the square, then it’s the next person’s turn. When you make it “home”, or until the ‘tenth’ square, you throw you rock backwards to any square, but without looking. Whichever square it lands on, that’s your home. Now, no one else can enter that square, they have to skip over it. Once you make it to the second round, instead of doing the regular hopscotch routine, you jump in each square with both feet, and you can rest in your “home”. For the third round, you jump in each square with your right foot, and you have two homes. The same for the third round, only with three “home bases” and with your left foot. Once you make it home on the third round, you win.
There are many other games in Armenia, like Armenian “hide and seek”, all of which I think are much more fun than American games. In America, as kids get older, they don’t play as many games. For example, In America, eleven-year olds don’t play hopscotch as much. In Armenia, wherever you look there are kids playing, no matter the gender or age. Twelve year olds may be playing the same game with the five year olds. Also, in Armenia, most of the games are athletic, almost every game includes running.
In Armenia, all the streets are safe, safer than in America. Because of the fact that Armenia is small, most residents in Yerevan and in the villages, have a good sense of community. If you are walking down any given street in Yerevan, you will meet many people you know, and they will talk to you, start conversations as if you were their closest friend. There are birds everywhere, even in Yerevan. There is almost no crime, especially in the villages. Overall, the studies show that crime rate in Armenia is low, and much lower than in many other countries. My sister Isabelle says that in the villages, the worst crime is ants stealing your food!
If you would like to know more about Armenian games, then visit Armenia, the large family. We welcome you with open arms.